Jessica’s Travel Tips

A trip to Hawaii can be a fruit connoisseur’s “dream come true” and for very good reason. The islands abound with a wonderful blend of exotic fruits that can dazzle even the most seasoned of fruit lovers. A good overview of what is available should help you find what you really like quickly and help you to focus on eating a lot of it during your stay in Hawaii. The choices range from sour to sweet, with many combinations along the way.

The Lychee

The lychee is a small fruit with red skin that resembles the common artistic conceptualization of a dragon’s skin. Inside this thin skin is a lusciously juicy orb of somewhat transparent milky white flesh. Inside that white fleshy mass is a seed, so be careful not to swallow it whole. What does this wonderful fruit taste like? Well, possibly the only similarly tasting fruit may be the rambuton, which we will take a look at next!

The Rambuton

The rambuton is like a lychee that has grown soft, long tentacles all over its outer casing. It likely looks more like a piece of modern art than it does an edible fruit. While it may be tempting to just leave it intact and enjoy its artistic value, it is very similar in taste to lychee and can be quite fun to open, so go for it and enjoy the exotic flavor it has to offer. If so inspired, you can still decorate your rental car or hotel room with rambuton casings after eating the fruit.

Sour Sap

The sour sap is a luxuriously lavish fruit verging on orgasmic in its flavorful flesh. It is likely the perfect balance of sweet and sour, and the soft milky white flesh is literally dripping with nectar. Its outer skin is a pistachio green and is covered with beautiful scales which make the fruit look like a small dragon wing. It varies in size from about the size of a baseball to possibly 7 times that size or more. Find one, if at all possible, and enjoy it.

The Atamoya

The atamoya is a similar fruit to the sour sap in appearance, but it is often smaller and not so sour. It tastes a bit sweeter in its own rich and creamy way and some people consider it to be like creamy pudding. Coincidentally, there is even a “vanilla” and a “chocolate” flavor to enjoy.

Dragon Fruit

The dragon fruit is extremely unique in appearance and that is likely why it has such an interesting name. If someone were to point it out and claim it was a dragon egg, an observer might find it somewhat believable. It certainly looks like one may be expected to appear, at least. The outside is covered in long scales which are colored with a gradient of pink and light green. They extend out to make it look like a kind of spherical flower. The inside of this truly exotic fruit is a mildly sweet flavor.

The ancient spiritual city of Angkor in Cambodia is a wonderfully spectacular and relatively affordable destination for many travelers. Its temple complexes and elaborate sculpture will dazzle any adventurer making the pilgrimage to see its artistic beauty first hand. It is a shining stone testament to the devotion and resolve of its inhabitants, as well as to the skill, vitality, and creativity of its artisans. To gaze upon its beauty is to be transported to a moment when humanity could live in harmony with nature and still maintain a grandiose and culturally abundant society. Such an ancient mystical city is the kind often fantasized by books and movies such as Indiana Jones, yet it stands ready to be explored by anyone today.

Angkor is currently considered to be the largest pre-industrial city in the world by far at a measurement of approximately 3000 kilometers, while the closest is Tikal in Mexico measuring in at only around 100 to 150 kilometers in comparison. The principal structure of Angkor Wat was likely constructed in the years between 1110 and 1150. What may be amazing is that the elaborate and ornate complexes of these ancient structures became hidden by forest for hundreds of years, prior to the rediscovery of Angkor Wat and its surrounding city in the 19th Century. Imagine an ancient city approximately the size of modern Los Angeles being lost in the forest!

There are many buildings comprising Angkor and most tourism tends to focus on the buildings near Angkor Wat as they likely comprise the greatest concentration of large and ornate structures. The primary structure of the Wat itself is large and elaborate enough to justify days of exploration in its gorgeous walls alone. It is covered in complex bas relief carvings depicting scenes from various epics both from the Vedic culture of India to the historical depictions of Angkor life. It is like a three dimensional stone picture book carved in the shape of a large and ancient building. One can easily see the majesty and strength of Angkorian society as well as the devotional integrity and skill of its artists and craftsmen.

The nearby Bayon is another temple close to the Wat which has some truly unique features and is definitely a favorite to some, as it is a spectacularly amazing temple to behold. The entire temple is essentially constructed of many large stone heads and each is a monument worthy of the Louvre or any other museum of its kind. Thankfully the treasures of the Bayon were too large for any museum or maverick adventurer to have pilfered and so it stands still today for everyone to enjoy. There is possibly no other temple on Earth like it, so it is a highly recommended experience that is most certainly worthy of a personal visit.

There are countless more buildings and temples to explore in the Angkor area and one can, although somewhat quickly, see many of them within a week or so. The town of Siem Reap nearby offers most of the modern amenities one would need to properly enjoy Angkor as a vacation destination. One may find the low prices and good food particularly refreshing. So start planning a trip to Angkor, it is a rare place that will likely exceed your expectations.